Light Your Pathway
by Gater101
Summary: Sometimes the consequences are too much. AU.


Title: Light Your Pathway  
Summary: Sometimes, the consequences are too much. AU  
Characters: John, Teyla &Ronon  
Pairing: John/Teyla  
Rating: K-K+  
Notes: This is a continuation of Camy's fic, Forces of Nature. She's just letting me play with the idea.

**I ain't a fool  
I've got my doubts  
Say it doesn't hurt  
Doesn't matter anyhow  
**

This new world was just like the others; dark, bleak, oppressive - just another symbol of what their lives had become.

"Ever get the feeling you're going round in circles?" He murmured to her quietly as they walked through the thick throng of people who had stopped to stare at the newest outcasts. John had long since stopped trying to stare them down; he was one of them now and although he had no intention to befriend any of them, he knew he did not want to make enemies of some either. He saw Teyla frown slightly from the corner of his eye but he simply shook his head. "Never mind."

She turned to him and he could see a flash of something in her eyes; he watched it for a moment before turning his eyes from her and concentrating on finding his way through the masses. He nodded to a few people he recognised from other backwater planets but mainly he kept his head bent, arms at his side as he strode towards the centre of town. All they wanted was food and shelter for the night, tired and weary from lack of sleep and food.

The tavern was like all the others; dark and dreary, a breeding ground for all kinds of disease. When he pulled the door closed behind him the stench almost sent him straight back out of it. He saw Teyla pause for a moment as she took in her surroundings and he dropped his hand to the small of her back for a fleeting moment before passing by her.

The man behind the bar was old, greasy and John could smell him before the man even leaned over the bar to tell him the inn was full. John flashed the coin in his hand and the man eyed him and the coin warily for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

"It real?" John nodded, watching as the man surveyed the shiny coin in his palm. The man raised his eyes to John, his pale orbs scouring his face, watching for any hint of deception. John stared back just as hard, his countenance fierce. "You new?"

John shook his head. "Not really."

"You alone?"

John shook his head again and the man laughed fiercely, the loud bark drowned out by the volume of the ruckus in the tavern.

"You must be if you're girl's still with you."

But John had heard it all before. To some, they were still new; their sole year of wandering was nothing compared to the decades some had spent on the dingy planets that no civilised person ever ventured to. He'd seen it, too. Couples they'd seen on the first of the planets were seen wandering alone; the men begging for labour, the women selling their bodies.

John and Teyla had looked at one another and made a vow that they'd never become another one of those people.

"Have you got a room or not?" John demanded, his fist closing around the coin, trying to hide the gratitude on his face when the man nodded quickly, dirty strands of greying hair falling in his eyes. "We'll want hot water and any food you can spare." The man nodded, reaching for the coin that John held out but John withdrew it, catching the man's eye and grasping his wrist. "Clean food. I'll know if it's not."

The man's face twitched slightly and John made to walk away.

"All right, all right!" He called to John's retreating back and John stopped, pivoting slightly. "Give me one rotation and you'll have clean food; you can prepare it yourselves if you don't believe me."

John nodded.

"And the hot water?"

"Quarter a rotation."

John nodded again and made to drop the coin into the man's eager hands but paused again.

"One more thing." The man looked exasperated and John smirked slightly. "If anyone asks, you haven't seen us."

The man narrowed his eyes again, withdrawing his hand slightly.

"You in some kind of trouble?"

John quirked the corner of his lip and placed the coin in the man's hand.

"Isn't everyone?" He closed the man's fist around the coin and walked away. "Quarter a rotation!"

-

He leaned against the door as he pushed it shut behind him, feeling the weariness overcome him at the sight of the bed. He breathed in and tried to ignore the remnants of the pungent smell the room could never escape.

The only light in the dank room came from a small holo-emitter in the corner, the blue light fuzzy and unstable. There was candles dotted around the room with tapers John was sure wouldn't light but right then he didn't care. He'd spent too many nights on planets too cold and wet and dangerous. His military training had come in handy too often in the past year.

"_Remember these planets aren't what you're used to, Sheppard. It's surviving that matters out there, nothing else."_

_John nodded, glancing away as he tried to hide the sudden fear that crept up into his chest._

"_Thanks Ronon." He clapped the only Satedan he'd ever known on the shoulder and made a show of straightening his back. "I'll be fine. __**We'll **__be fine."_

_He chose to ignore Ronon's lingering stare as he stepped through the 'Gate._

He opened his eyes as he watched her sit hesitantly on the edge of the bed as though scared that leaning against it would kill her. Her back was ramrod straight, the tension in her shoulders palpable in the air. He sighed and dropped his head onto the door as he closed his eyes, sleep tugging at him already.

He could hear her rustling in her pack and he opened his eyes tiredly, the smile failing to reach his lips as she withdrew a thin linen sheet and spread it across the bed before laying down on it. He sat at her feet, hands in his lap as he stared at the door. The holo-emitter's low crackle buzzed in his ears and he dropped his head to his upturned hands, scrubbing at his eyes with dirty fingers.

He missed Atlantis.

"John?" He tilted his head towards her but didn't turn. "Do you think they will find us here?"

He dropped his hands and turned from her, watching the door once again.

"These worlds are filled with two types of people; the ones who're too scared to say anything and the ones too poor to keep quiet." He turned to her, dropping his hand to her ankle for a moment. He knew she understood. Nowhere was safe.

The door rattled on its hinges and John jumped, his hand instantly reaching for the side arm that was no longer there.

"Your water, sir."

John pulled the door open and took the two jugs from the young boy.

"Thank you."

The boy smiled slightly, startled at the gratitude, before walking away and John kicked the door shut.

He placed the two jugs in the small room that he guessed was the bathroom and took the cleaning cloth from his bag, setting it beside the steaming jugs. He stood just inside the door to the main room and crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing Teyla sitting up on the bed.

"You can use the water first. I'll wait in here."

She didn't protest like he thought she would as she uncurled her feet from beneath her and stood. She passed him slowly and as she slid the door closed behind her, John caught her eye. She smiled slightly, tiredly and John looked away, sinking to the floor as the door clicked shut.

He _really _missed Atlantis.


End file.
